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Discover the Women of the French Resistance in the Alpilles

There was a very interesting talk in St.-Rémy-de-Provence the other night, about women in the French Resistance.  It focused particular attention on St.-Rémy, where I live part of the year.

Simone Segouin French Resistance Women

The talk was organized by the local historical society and featured two historians who specialize in the subject.  The event was held at the town’s movie theater and was surprisingly full.

Interest may be strong here because the great Resistance leader Jean Moulin had a home in nearby St.-Andiol.   He was a member of Charles de Gaulle’s government-in-exile in London.  In 1942 he parachuted into the nearby Alpilles mountains, in the dead of night, to organize competing factions into what we now call the Resistance.

Jean-Moulin Resistance Leader

One of the questions addressed by the historians at the talk was, “how many women were in the Resistance?”  For a long time it was thought that there were relatively few, because the official figures compiled right after the war only counted armed fighters.  These were predominately men, so the idea took hold that the Resistance was made up primarily of men.

In the 1980’s, however, a wave of feminist historians forced a closer look at the question.  Instead of asking, “Who carried a gun?” they asked the more appropriate question, “Who risked their life?” This included couriers, nurses, those who fed and sheltered fighters, etc.  While no definitive figures exist, it’s now clear that a large part of the Resistance was made up of women.

A few of these women are well-known, like the head of the Alliance network Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, or the Resistance member Lucie Aubrac, but most names are lost to history.

lucie aubrac Resistance Women

 

 A recently-discovered document sheds some light on the history of the Resistance in St-Rémy.  It lists both members and “sympathizers” and was held in secret by the local leader.  Can you imagine how dangerous this document was when the country was under Nazi control?

It shows that out of 6,000 inhabitants of St.-Rémy during the war, there were 52 members of the Resistance.  And of these, 26 – exactly half – were women.

The highlight of the evening was when the guest of honor was introduced.  This woman, now 92, was a teenager during the war and worked with her father in the Resistance.  She smuggled guns and messages at night, after the curfew, at great risk to herself.

When the war ended, there was a lot of vigilante justice in France.  Collaborators were summarily executed, along with innocent people accused of collaboration.  Again at great risk to herself, this lady was instrumental in stopping the vigilantes in St.-Rémy and making sure that every accused person was instead prosecuted under French law.

You don’t see a real hero every day.  It was inspiring to be in the presence of one.

Image credits:

Photo of Simone Seguoin is from her Wikipedia page.
Photo of Jean Moulin from the public domain
Photo of Lucie Aubrac is from the Public Archives of France (www.francearchives.fr) and is credited to the personal archives of her husband Raymond Aubrac.
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Keith Van Sickle

Keith and Val Van Sickle made their first trip to Provence decades ago, and it was love at first sight. After that, they came back every year until 2008, when they began a part-time life there, splitting their time between Provence and California.

Over the years, they’ve travelled all over Provence, seeing sights both well-known and obscure. Their French friends have introduced them to favourite restaurants and wineries and picnic spots and taught them funny local expressions (not all for polite company).

Keith now shares this local knowledge in his new book, An Insider’s Guide to Provence. Packed with the Van Sickles’ favourite things to see and do, it’s a must-have for anyone travelling to this glorious corner of France.

Keith previously published two books about the couple's experiences in Provence. One Sip at a Time: Learning to Live in Provence, and Are We French Yet?, both are available from Amazon.

You can see all of Keith’s blog posts at Life in Provence.

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